Bound in Starlight
by The Sociopathism of Trees
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto have come back to find a very sad Konoha and no Sakura. What does the Akatsuki have to do with it? Why does this make Sasuke and Naruto so angry? R&R!
1. Taken

**Bound in Starlight**

The gates were thrown wide open for their arrival, they had sent a messenger bird a week ago and seeing the reaction from the village it was clear that they had received it. The blonde ninja sighed contentedly, the stoic dark one silently observed the people. He could see everyone he had ever known, his sensei and pink-haired teammate were strangely absent but he imagined that they were planning to surprise them. Truth be told he had dreamed about his reunion with his female team member. He had hope she would come running up to him and he would sweep her up in his arms and tell her how sorry he was, of course he would never really do that (not in front of anyone else of course). But he had missed her much more than he thought he would. In the deep dark recesses of Orochimaru's halls, he would drift off into thoughts of pink and softly falling cherry blossom petals that would gently brush his cheek. He had tried so hard to forget her to sever those ties, but they just continued to haunt him, to fill his life with guilt. Eventually he had given up trying to dispose of the thoughts, and once he accepted them they began to only touch his conscious mind, he would be training and hear a soft movement he would spin around to see a petal drifting down to the floor. Then it would vanish.

Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and shook him gently, he knew what Sasuke was thinking about, he could see it in his eyes. A jounin trotted up to them and bowed stiffly.

"The Hokage wishes to see you. Please follow me."

"We know the way."

The ninja's eyes narrowed at Sasuke's cold tone. He bowed again and puffed away. Naruto shook his head and gave his trademark wolfish grin. The crowds clapped and were calling to them. But Sasuke could feel that something was wrong, he could see it in the body language and eyes of the people. To the left he heard a murmured comment that sparked his interest.

"With them back everything will be okay, and maybe they can…"

To his annoyance the rest was lost to Naruto's loud voice.

"Hurry up Teme! Grandma Tsunade wants to see us. She probably wants to give me a key to the village!"

Sasuke shook his head but continued to follow.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The door opened and admitted the two arrivals. Tsunade looked up and smiled at them, but again Sasuke picked up the sad hint. Naruto remained blissfully clueless. But not for long.

"Welcome back to Konoha you two."

"Hello grandma!"

A vein popped out of her forehead and she looked about to attack him when someone jumped in the window. Her head snapped to the figure. Even Naruto couldn't miss the light of hope that lit up her face.

"Kakashi! Did you find anything? Please tell me you have a lead, a piece of new information, anything!"

Kakashi looked grim but as soon as he caught sight of his students he smiled weakly. Sasuke frowned, something was going on here, and now he had a good idea of who it was about. He was sure that Sakura had something to do with it; she would have been the first person to greet them. But he wasn't about to say anything.

"I found someone who can take us to their newest hide out. We need a team for it now."

"No, you need rest first, I will get a team ready and you will leave first thing in the morning. Now go and rest up!"

Kakashi looked unhappy but bowed and left just the same. Naruto looked puzzled.

"Grandma? What is going on here? And why didn't Kakashi-sensei say hello? And where is Sakura?"

Tsunade's face fell, her bangs covered her eyes and she looked so sad, but at the same time absolutely furious.

"Sakura is gone."

They both stood utterly still, the room was full of rising tension. Their shock was like the calm before the storm. Then at the same time they burst forth and ran to her desk. Naruto's face was unreadable, which was unusual for him. But his voice was confused and hurt.

"Gone how?"

"She was taken from us."

This time it was Sasuke who could not contain himself.

"Taken by who and why?"

"The Akatsuki, as for why we are not fully sure. We think it has something to do with her clan's past."

"How do you know it was them?"

"They took her from right under us. She and Kakashi and some other ninja were on a mission to retrieve scrolls, she was the medic because there was a good chance of getting badly injured and at the last moment Sasori, Deidara, and Zetsu showed up and attacked them, three of my best were lost that day. But I am not the one to ask about what happened during the mission."

"I want on that mission. I need to go."

"Why Sasuke? To kill your brother? Or to save Sakura? If it is just for your brother I can not permit you to go on this mission."

"I want in too Tsunade!"

They all knew that it was the only thing he could think about, because he used her name, he didn't call her grandma or any nicknames. She looked him in the eye and saw the pain and the suffering that were raging through him.

"Okay Naruto. Sasuke I will only allow it if you promise to bring her back, if you promise to put Sakura first and your vengeance against your brother second."

Sasuke was silent. He was seeing his family dieing over and over again, hi brother was laughing, then at the edge of his minds eye a soft pink glow and falling blossoms that slowly clouded the view of the bloody scene. The blossom parted to show him Sakura. She had her back to him; she half turned toward him and smiled, her pink hair and green eyes coupled with her pale skin made her look like and angel.

"I promise."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Kakashi."

It was a demand not a question. He sighed, he knew this was coming. Ever since he saw them in the Hokage's office, he knew they would come and ask him what happened. He was so glad that they were back, but it just wasn't the same. it was Sasuke's decision to leave and he couldn't stop him, and it was Naruto's decision to go off and bring him back. But Sakura was in his care, she didn't want to leave. He should have been able to save her, but he had failed Rin, Obito, and now Sakura. . How many other people would he fail?

"Kakashi-sensei, what happened that day? And how long ago did it happen?"

Kakashi collapsed onto his big armchair.

"It was a year ago."

Naruto couldn't hold in the gasp of pure fury. His team mate, his family, had been in the clutches of evil men, that wouldn't hesitate to kill her, for a year! How could he have not been here for her? He should have been there! As soon as he was back to fulfill his promise to her, she was gone. Was he not supposed to be happy? Was he always meant to find something precious to him, only to have it ripped away?

"What happened?"

"I am not going to go into very much detail. We were in a forest a few miles south of here; we were coming back with the scrolls and were all tired and low on chakra. We had fought hard for those scrolls. Sakura had healed us all and was the most tired. We had stopped for a short rest when Deidara and Sasori surprised us. Sakura and I were to continue on with the scrolls when we were attacked by Zetsu. I told Sakura to run for the village, she set off and I started to fight with Zetsu. Our fight lasted maybe half an hour, after I killed him I ran to catch up with Sakura, but when I got to a clearing that looked like a struggle had taken place there, it was empty. A voice I couldn't recognize echoed throughout the clearing, 'You should have taken better care of your blossom Kakashi.' When I asked him what he meant he answered that it didn't matter because he had her now."

Kakashi stopped and looked at his hands that furled in his lap. Sasuke shifted uneasily and Naruto had been clenching his fists so hard that his nails had punctured his skin and he was bleeding. Kakashi sighed, it was filled with so much pain that they all winced.

"I went back to see how the others faired; right as I got to them that same voice told the other members that they had what they wanted and it was time to go. They all left and we carried the dead back to the village. We have been tracing leads and trying to find their hideouts no stop since then. I am so sorry, I've tried everything but this is our second bid lead. The first one we got brought us to their hideout we demanded her back but all they said was that we would never find her, but from listening to them talk amongst themselves we learned that she was still alive and they were preparing something for her. Unfortunately we learned nothing about where she was."

"What could they be preparing?"

"I don't know, when he talked about it he looked…is if whatever it was would be very amusing. And I really don't like to think what would amuse them."

Naruto stood up so fat that his chair went flying backwards and crashed to the ground. His body shook with anger and his eyes had turned red. He burst out of the room and ran out to the old team seven training grounds. He punched the ground over and over; he put all his strength into every shot. Soon his red eyes gave way to cerulean and tears overflowed his eyes. He kept punching the ground but with less and less energy, he heard Sasuke come up behind him, but he just kept punching.

"Why? Why Teme? Why weren't we here to protect her? When it counted most we were fighting each other. That's always how it was, we would fight and forget about her, she tried to stop us but we never listened. Were we just never meant to be happy together? Was I never meant to be happy?"

he let his tears flow freely, but in his mind he was already promising that he would get her back and he would be happy. They all would be happy.


	2. Mission

**Bound in Starlight**

Her eyes were full of starlight. Her skin, hair, and clothing glowed. She lay in a hammock of light blue fabric suspended in the branches of a flowering tree. It was changed. Changed simply by her presence. The whole clearing had formed itself into a perfect circle enclosed by a perfect ring of the same flowering trees. The stars here glittered with almost unbearable clarity.

Four black shrouded men sat around the tree, each positioned to face one of the cardinal directions. They held their hands in the seal of the boar. If one walked into the clearing they would be able to feel the power radiating off of the figures, only eclipsed by the feeling of power from the girl. But no one came or would come.

A voice broke the silence that hung in the air like a cloud.

"How does the jutsu progress?"

Another voice, from the man facing north, answered after a slight pause.

"It will be finished very soon. Three days perhaps."

A third voice, the figure facing east, entered the conversation.

"And the demons? Have the last two been captured?"

The first voice responded in short words clipped in anger.

"They have. All that remains is the nine-tails. Sources tell us that the Kyuubi will be arriving at the base shortly."

The shrouded figure facing west turned to stare at the glowing girl breathing lightly in soft sleep up in her tree. He knew in her original condition that comment would have made her fiery temper bubble up to the surface. But now she only slept. It was all the proof he needed to be sure that the jutsu would indeed be finished soon.

"Make sure nothing interrupts."

Four "Hai"s followed his statement before the clearing once again descended into silence.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto sat on the edge of the plain white hospital bed, staring blankly down at his newly mended hands. The Kyuubi had mostly healed them by the time he had reluctantly made the trek to the hospital. Could the Kyuubi be the one at fault for why Sakura had been taken from him? His mind, in a rush of anger, replayed every moment his life had become unbearable due to the influence of the demon. His hands curled into fists. Slowly, unhappily he uncurled them. The Kyuubi had also given him the power to many of those he considered precious.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Tsunade walked quietly through the door. For one silent, slightly uncomfortable, moment no one spoke. Naruto finally broke the silence.

"Tsunade, I'm going after her. Now. Not later. I will not make her wait any longer." His voice brooked no argument and his second use of Tsunade's name in as many hours brought down the full weight of his declaration.

"No Naruto. You have only just returned and there is Sasuke's punishment for leaving the village to decide. You can not leave. Not yet." She shook her head sadly, it hurt her to say that to him, really it did. But it had to be done.

Naruto stood up and turned his back to her.

"You will not be able to stop me. You can send every ninja that belongs to this village after me but they will neither catch me nor stop me. Mark me as abandoning the village if you want. But I am leaving." His voice was pure steel. She had to stop herself from taking an involuntary step back at the shocking tone.

Sasuke stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Naruto, his back to the Hokage.

"She is ours and no one else is allowed to touch her. Least of all Akatsuki."

In a flash they were gone through the suddenly open window.

"Kakashi, stop them!"

She turned to the silver haired man, but he had vanished as well. She truly wouldn't be able to stop them. It was their personal vendetta and as strong as they were nothing would stand in their way. Sighing she walked slowly back toward her office. She would sign them off as being the team that had been assigned the mission of finding the Akatsuki hideout.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke. His eyes were still steely but they had been veiled with a sense of mischief.

"You just want to claim her as your own."

"Shut up."

The blonde looked back at their old teacher, Naruto had known Kakashi would follow. Kakashi had raised his eyebrow at the two of them silently asking his question. Naruto chuckled.

"Let's just say Teme has not been able to cut some of his ties. Actually he found a new one he didn't know was there in the first place. He hasn't been able to get a certain someone out of his mind since he left."

"Shut up Dobe."

"I'm not a Dobe Teme!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The man tied to the tree was unrecognizable. His clothing was in shreds and soaked with blood. His face was covered in gashes of varying depths and his left cheekbone shone shocking white against the red punctured skin. His body was mutilated, his right arm was missing. The man, known as Klin, had gone back on his word to take Kakashi to the Akatsuki base. Instead he had gone and planned and ambush of thirty nin to capture him and any others he brought with him. He had planned to take them as captives for experimentation. His ambush had been defeated with brutal ease and now he sat in the position he was in now. But at least he was alive while his companions were dead around him.

"What do you know about a girl named Sakura?"

A tall blonde stood glaring down at him. _Sakura? Where have I heard that before? It seemed important to both groups._ The dark one stalked over and let a little of his anger seep out to surround Klin in oppressing killing intent. He began to shake, regardless of how much more pain it caused.

"There w…was ss…somm…ething that they ww…were pre..preocupied with. S..s…something they were ee…eager t..t…to try. Th…they ne..needed a girl f..for and ex..experi…ment. S..sss…something that they wh…where v…very p…pleased about."

The grey haired man he had initially met grabbed him by the collar and slammed his back against the tree.

"Stop stuttering and tell us what we want to know! What experiment? Why her?"

"I don't know! The experiment w…was something they found in an old scroll from before the hidden villages."

Kakashi, the grey haired man, shook him roughly.

"Then tell me where she is. Tell me how long the experiment lasted."

"She is in the forest a few miles north of the base in Amegakure! The experiment should be finished in two days!"

He was dropped and alone in less than a heart beat.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sasuke calculated that even going at their top speed without stopping it would take them a day and a half to reach Amegakure. But they were expecting a major fight. So they would have to rest right before they got to where Sakura was being held. That put them at about two days. The time when the experiment would be finished. He should have been stronger! Then he could have gone faster and not stopped to rest. Two days. In that second day she could be dead. She could be killed as a side effect of the experiment or if the experiment failed she could be killed, or she could be shoved aside until the next experiment was ready. A lab rat trapped in a house full of snakes. He glanced back at Kakashi.

"It will take us two days to reach her and be ready for a fight."

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh.

"Not good enough! We have to get there sooner!"

Kakashi nodded.

"Then let's see if we can't go faster than this walking pace. You two must have gotten faster while you were away."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_sry about the wait but I lost all initiative to continue this until now. But I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to take this next so it might be another while before I update._


End file.
